Apparatus for providing cooling energy to a target

ABSTRACT

This application relates to an apparatus for generating refrigeration. The apparatus may include a cooling collector configured to collect cooling energy at a predetermined cooling collection temperature. The apparatus may also include a cooler thermally coupled to the cooling collector so as to cool the cooling collector. The apparatus may further include a refrigeration gate configured to block and release the collected cooling energy. The refrigeration gate may refrigerate a target region by releasing the collected cooling energy.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/903,186, filed on Jun. 16, 2020, which is a continuation applicationof International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2018/016491 filed on Dec.21, 2018, which claims priority to and the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2017-0184448, filed on Dec. 29, 2017, the disclosuresof each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

This application relates to a cooling generator.

Discussion of Related Technology

Cooling apparatuses may be classified into a variety of forms accordingto driving principles thereof and generate cooling energy using aStirling cooler, a thermodynamic cycle such as a vapor compressionrefrigeration cycle, liquid evaporation, or a Joule-Thomson effect usingan expanding gas. Otherwise, cooling apparatuses generate cooling energyusing liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide or generate cooling energy usingthermoelectric elements such as Peltier elements.

Meanwhile, when cooling is performed in a target area, since it becomesmore difficult to perform cooling as a temperature decreases,conventional cooling apparatuses have a limitation in reducing a coolingtime to a target cooling temperature.

SUMMARY

One aspect is a cooling generator that can perform rapid cooling to atarget cooling temperature in a target area.

Another aspect is a cooling generator including a cooling accumulationunit accumulating cooling energy at a preset cooling energy accumulationtemperature, a cooling unit cooling the cooling accumulation unitthrough thermal coupling with the cooling accumulation unit, and acooling gate unit blocking and discharging the accumulated coolingenergy. Here, the cooling gate unit cools the target area by dischargingthe accumulated cooling energy.

The cooling unit may be implemented using at least one of a Peltiereffect, a phase change effect, a Joule-Thomson effect, and athermodynamic cycle (cooling using a Stirling cooler or compressor). Thecooling gate unit may block emission of the cooling energy through atleast one of first passive cooling and active cooling while blockingemission of the cooling energy. The cooling gate unit may emit thecooling energy through at least one of second passive cooling and activeheating while emitting the cooling energy.

The cooling unit may have cooling power greater than that of the coolinggate unit. The cooling accumulation unit may be a polyhedron, and aplurality of faces of the cooling accumulation unit may be thermallycoupled with a cooling element included in the cooling unit. One face ofthe cooling accumulation unit may be thermally coupled with the coolingelements included in the cooling unit.

Another aspect is a cooling method including a first cooling operationof accumulating cooling energy by cooling a cooling energy accumulatingunit thermally coupled with a cooling unit at a preset cooling energyaccumulation temperature and a second cooling operation of cooling atarget area to a target cooling temperature by emitting the accumulatedcooling energy toward the target area.

In the first cooling operation, the target area may be maintained at atemperature different from the cooling energy accumulation temperaturethrough at least one of first passive cooling of blocking emission ofthe cooling energy and active heating by a cooling gate unit thermallycoupled with the cooling accumulation unit.

In the second cooling operation, the target area may be cooled at atarget cooling temperature through at least one of second passivecooling performed by releasing active heating which counterbalancesemission of the accumulated cooling energy from the cooling accumulationunit and active heating by a cooling gate unit thermally coupled withthe cooling accumulation unit.

Another aspect is a cooling generator including a substrate wherecooling is performed, one or more cooling units accumulating coolingenergy at a preset cooling energy accumulation temperature, one or morecooling gate units blocking or emitting the cooling energy accumulatedby the cooling units, and a cooling operation unit including an opening,which exposes a part of the substrate to the outside, and thermallycoupled with the substrate to transmit the cooling energy emitted by thecooling gate unit to the substrate. Here, the cooling gate units coolthe substrate through passive cooling of emitting the accumulatedcooling energy and active cooling performed by the cooling gate unit.

According to embodiments, a cooling generator can perform rapidrefrigeration anesthesia by intensively supplying cooling energy to acooling medium which comes into contact with a part to be treated andperforms cooling thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example block diagram of a cooling generator according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 2 is an example perspective view of the cooling generator shown inFIG. 1 according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is an example cross-sectional view of the cooling generator shownin FIG. 1 according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an operation of accumulating by thecooling generator of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an operation of emitting cooling energy bythe cooling generator of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is an example perspective view of another cooling generatoraccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the cooling generator shown in FIG.6 according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating some components extracted from the coolinggenerator shown in FIG. 6 according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is an example perspective view of another cooling generatoraccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a cooling unit according to someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Since the described technology may be variously modified and have avariety of embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated inthe drawings and described in detail hereinafter. The effects andfeatures of the described technology and a method of achieving the samewill become clear with reference to the following embodiments which willbe described below in detail with reference to the drawings. However,the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments andmay be implemented in a variety of forms.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference tothe attached drawings. While being described with reference to thedrawings, equal or corresponding components will be referred to as equalreference numerals and a repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

In the following embodiments, the terms such as first, second, and thelike are used to distinguish one component from another instead of beingused as limitative meanings.

In the following embodiments, singular expressions, unless clearlydefined otherwise in context, include plural expressions.

In the following embodiments, the terms such as including, having, andthe like mean presence of features or components disclosed in thespecification and do not preclude a possibility of adding one or morefeatures or components thereto.

In the following embodiments, when it is stated that a part such as afilm, area, component, and the like is above or on another part, thepart may not only be directly on the other part but may also be on theother part with still another film, area, component, and the likeinterposed therebetween.

In the drawings, for convenience of description, sizes of components maybe exaggerated or reduced. For example, since sizes and thicknesses ofcomponents in the drawings are arbitrarily shown for convenience fordescription, the present invention is not limited thereto.

When any embodiments are otherwise implementable, a particular processsequence may be performed to be different from a described sequence. Forexample, two processes described consecutively may be performed at thesame time and may be performed in an order opposite a described order.

In the following embodiments, when it is stated that films, areas,components, or the like are connected to each other, the films, areas,and components may not only be directly connected to each other but mayalso be indirectly connected to another film, area, and componentinterposed therebetween. For example, in the specification, when it isstated that films, areas, components, or the like are electricallyconnected, the films, areas, components, or the like may not only bedirectly connected to each other electrically but may also be indirectlyconnected to each other electrically with another film, area, component,or the like interposed therebetween.

Hereinafter, a cooling generator 70 according to some embodiments willbe described in detail.

FIGS. 1 to 8 are views illustrating a technique related to a coolinggenerator (cooling amplification by stimulated energy of refrigeration(CASER)).

In the specification, the cooling generator 70 is applicable to medicalcooling systems, and in detail, may perform a function of a coolingenergy generation unit of a medial cooling apparatus. However, theconcept of the present invention is not limited thereto, and the coolinggenerator 70 is a device that can generate and supply cooling energy andis applicable to other fields and apparatuses. The cooling generator 70may basically generate cooling energy and cool a target object at adesired temperature while precisely cooling at high speed.

Here, the cooling generator 70 may perform a function of a CASER system.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the cooling generator 70according to one embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematicallyillustrating one example of the cooling generator 70 of FIG. 1 , andFIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the cooling generator 70 of FIG. 2 .FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an operation of accumulating, by thecooling generator 70 of FIG. 1 , cooling energy to a cooling energyaccumulation temperature, and FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an operationof emitting, by the cooling generator 70 of FIG. 1 , cooling energy.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 , the cooling generator 70 may include acooling unit (or a cooler) 710, a cooling accumulation unit (or acooling accumulator) 720, a cooling gate unit (or a cooling gate) 730,and a control unit 740. Here, the control unit 740 may be a componentincluded in the cooling generator 70 but is not limited thereto and maybe a component equal to a control unit of a medical cooling apparatus10.

The cooling unit 710 may generate cooling energy and supply the coolingenergy to the cooling accumulation unit 720. The cooling unit 710 mayhave any forms capable of supplying cooling energy to the coolingaccumulation unit 720 and include one or more cooling elements capableof generating cooling energy. The cooling unit 710 may generate coolingenergy using at least one of a thermoelectric element (Peltier element)method, a phase change method, a Joule-Thomson method, a method of usingthermodynamic cycle such as a Stirling cooler or a vapor compressionrefrigeration cycle. Otherwise, the cooling unit 710 may generatecooling energy using liquid evaporation or liquid nitrogen. Hereinafter,for convenience of description, a thermoelectric element will be mainlydescribed. When the cooling unit 710 uses a thermoelectric element, heatgenerated by the thermoelectric element may be transferred to a heatdissipation unit 114 such as a heat sink and be discharged outward.

The cooling unit 710 may be thermally coupled with the coolingaccumulation unit 720 and maintain a temperature of the coolingaccumulation unit 720 at a preset cooling energy accumulationtemperature. One or more cooling units 710 may be provided to bearranged on at least one surface of the cooling accumulation unit 720.For example, the cooling units 710 may be disposed on all surfacesexcluding an area in which the cooling gate unit 730 among the coolingaccumulation unit 720 is disposed. Otherwise, as shown in FIG. 2 , thecooling units 710 may be arranged on all surfaces except the area inwhich the cooling gate unit 730 is disposed and an area oppositethereto. The concept of the present invention is not limited to theabove structures, and any structures capable of efficiently transferringcooling energy to the cooling accumulation unit 720 are applicablethereto.

The cooling accumulation unit 720 may receive cooling energy generatedby the cooling unit 710 and accumulate the cooling energy to become apreset cooling energy accumulation temperature. The cooling accumulationunit 720 may perform a function of a heat reservoir for cooling energy.The cooling accumulation unit 720 may receive cooling energy from theone or more cooling units 710 arranged on at least one surface. Here,due to the cooling gate unit 730 which will be described, the coolingenergy is not emitted outward and accumulated to a cooling energyaccumulation temperature. Here, a cooling energy accumulationtemperature of the cooling accumulation unit 720 may be lower than roomtemperature.

The cooling accumulation unit 720 may include a metal material havinghigh specific heat and thermal conductivity so as to efficientlytransfer and accumulate cooling energy provided from the cooling unit710. For example, the cooling accumulation unit 720 may include gold(Ag), silver (Au), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), and the like.

The cooling accumulation unit 720 may have a form capable of efficientlyaccumulating cooling energy. As one embodiment, the cooling accumulationunit 720 may have a polyhedral structure. As shown in FIG. 2 , thecooling accumulation unit 720 may be a hexahedron. Otherwise, thecooling accumulation unit 720 may have a cylindrical shape. The coolingaccumulation unit 720 may be coupled with the cooling units 710 arrangedon at least one surface thereof.

The cooling gate unit 730 may emit cooling energy accumulated in thecooling accumulation unit 720 outward or may block the accumulatedcooling energy from being emitted outward. In detail, when cooling isperformed by emitting the cooling energy accumulated at the coolingaccumulation unit 720 outward, the cooling gate unit 730 may performpassive cooling of transferring cooling energy collected at the coolingaccumulation unit 720 to a target area and active cooling performedusing cooling energy generated in the cooling gate unit 730 at the sametime. The cooling gate unit 730 may perform active cooling or activeheating. Here, the cooling gate unit 730 may perform active cooling oractive heating using a thermoelectric element (Peltier element) method.

As described above, the Peltier effect means a phenomenon in which whensome types of metals are paired and currents are applied thereto, onecontact point generates heat and the other contact point absorbs heat(cool). That is, in the Peltier effect, when direct current electricityis applied to a circuit including two different metals having the sameforms, heat absorption occurs at one joint part and heat generationoccurs at the other joint part. When currents are applied in an oppositedirection, heat absorption and heat generation may occur in reverse.

The cooling energy unit 730 may control a direction of currents usingthermoelectric elements having the Peltier effect so as to performcooling or heating on an action surface 731. Here, the action surface731 may be thermally coupled with an object to be cooled. The coolinggate unit 730 may actively block the cooling energy accumulated at thecooling accumulation unit 720 through active heating.

Meanwhile, the cooling gate unit 730 may have cooling power which issmaller than cooling power of the cooling unit 710. The cooling gateunit 730 may perform cooling equal to that of the cooling unit 710 butmay perform a function of a switch which actually blocks or emitscooling energy accumulated at the cooling accumulation unit 720.

The control unit 740 may independently control the cooling unit 710 andthe cooling gate unit 730. The control unit 740 may control the coolingunit 710 to perform cooling and control the cooling gate unit 730 toperform active cooling or active heating.

Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 , a method of accumulating andemitting cooling energy by controlling, by the control unit 740, thecooling unit 710 and the cooling gate unit 730 will be described indetail.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the control unit 740 performs a first coolingoperation of cooling the cooling accumulation unit 720 to be at acooling energy accumulation temperature T_(target) by controlling thecooling unit 710.

In detail, the control unit 740 may control the cooling unit 710 togenerate cooling energy. As one embodiment, the cooling unit 710 may beformed of a thermoelectric element, and the control unit 740 may controlgeneration of cooling energy by applying currents to the cooling unit710. The cooling energy generated by the cooling unit 710 may betransferred to the cooling accumulation unit 720.

Here, the control unit 740 may not allow cooling energy accumulated atthe cooling accumulation unit 720 to be emitted outward using thecooling gate unit 730 disposed on one surface of the coolingaccumulation unit 720. The cooling gate unit 730 may block coolingenergy through passive cooling of blocking emission of the coolingenergy without applying power or active heating of actively blockingcooling energy by applying power thereto. Hereinafter, for beingdistinguished from passive cooling during a cooling energy transferprocess, passive cooling for blocking cooling energy will be referred toas first passive cooling and passive cooling in transferring coolingenergy will be referred to as second passive cooling.

That is, according to a method of blocking cooling energy according tosome embodiments, the accumulated cooling energy may not be emittedoutward by controlling the first passive cooling or active cooling to beperformed. In other words, the cooling gate unit 730 may generatecooling energy on a surface in contact with the cooling accumulationunit 720 like the cooling unit 710, and active heating may occur on theaction surface 731 which is opposite thereto and comes into contact withan object to be cooled. For example, the control unit 740 may controlthe cooling gate unit 730 to maintain a temperature of the actionsurface 731 at room temperature.

Through this, cooling energy supplied to the cooling accumulation unit720 is not emitted outward and is accumulated at the coolingaccumulation unit 720 and reaches the target cooling temperatureT_(target) due to the accumulated cooling energy. The control unit 740may maintain the cooling accumulation unit 720 at the target coolingtemperature T_(target) through the control.

Afterwards, referring to FIG. 5 , the control unit 740 performs a secondcooling operation of cooling an object to be cooled to the targetcooling temperature T_(target) by performing second passive cooling ofreleasing cooling from being blocked by controlling the cooling gateunit 730 or active cooling.

In detail, the control unit 740 may release cooling at the cooling gateunit 730 from being blocked or perform active cooling by allowingcurrents applied to the cooling gate unit 730 to flow in a directionopposite to that of the first cooling operation. In other words, in thecooling gate unit 730, cooling energy may be generated on the actionsurface 731 and heat may be generated on a surface opposite to theaction surface 731.

A path through which cooling energy may be emitted is formed due toaction of the cooling gate unit 730, and the cooling energy accumulatedat the cooling accumulation unit 720 is instantaneously discharged tothe action surface 731 of the cooling gate unit 730. Here, the secondpassive cooling performed by the accumulated cooling energy of thecooling accumulation unit 720 and passive cooling performed by thecooling gate unit 730 may occur on the action surface 731 of the coolinggate unit 730.

Through the above configuration, the cooling generator 70 may allow atemperature of an object to be cooled which comes into contact with theaction surface 731 to instantaneously reach the target coolingtemperature T_(target). Also, as the cooling generator 70 approaches thecooling target temperature, the necessary power decreases and thusprecision of cooling may be increased.

Meanwhile, to provide a low target cooling temperature, the coolingaccumulation unit 720 may include a variety of operations.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of acooling generator 70-1, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustratingthe cooling generator 70-1 of FIG. 6 , and FIG. 8 is a view illustratingsome components extracted from the cooling generator 70-1 of FIG. 6 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 6 to 8 , the cooling generator 70-1 may includea substrate Sub, the cooling accumulation unit 720, the cooling gateunit 730, the control unit 740, and a cooling operation unit (a coolingoperator) 750. Basically, the cooling generator 70-1 according toanother embodiment performs cooling according to a principle which isthe same as that of the above-described cooling generator 70, and arepetitive description will be omitted for convenience of description.Here, the cooling generator 70-1 according to another embodiment mayinclude the cooling unit 710 but may cool the cooling accumulation unit720 using a refrigerant which comes into contact with the coolingaccumulation unit 720.

The cooling generator 70-1 according to another embodiment includes thecooling operation unit 750 surrounding the substrate Sub and has afeature of precisely cooling the substrate Sub at a target coolingtemperature at high speed using the cooling gate unit 730 disposedbetween the cooling operation unit 750 and the cooling accumulation unit720.

The substrate Sub may include a transparent material and may be formedof a diamond or sapphire material to increase heat conductivity.

The cooling operation unit 750 may be formed to surround the substrateSub. Although it is shown in the drawing that a round opening is formedin a center of the cooling operation unit 750 and the substrate Sub isdisposed in the opening, the concept of the present invention is notlimited thereto and any forms capable of maximizing cooling efficiencyare applicable thereto. For example, the opening of the coolingoperation unit 750 may have a polygonal shape such as a quadrangularshape. The cooling operation unit 750 may be formed of a material havinghigh heat conductivity to efficiently transfer cooling energy from thecooling gate unit 730.

The cooling accumulation unit 720 may be disposed to be adjacent to thecooling operation unit 750 with the cooling gate unit 730 interposedtherebetween. The cooling accumulation unit 720 is thermally coupledwith the cooling gate unit 730 and the cooling operation unit 750. Thecooling accumulation unit 720 may be thermally coupled with the coolingunit 710 described above and receive cooling energy but may receivecooling energy by coming into contact with a refrigerant such as liquidnitrogen or a coolant. The cooling accumulation unit 720 may alsoinclude a material having high heat conductivity to efficiently transfercooling energy. In detail, it is apparent that a target cooling energyaccumulation temperature T_(target) of the cooling accumulation unit 720receiving cooling energy using liquid nitrogen is lower than a targetcooling temperature. Herein, passive cooling increases such that aneffect of increasing a cooling speed may be provided. That is, toincrease the cooling speed, the cooling energy accumulation temperatureT_(target) may be set to be lower than the target cooling temperature.

The cooling gate unit 730 may be disposed between one surface of thecooling accumulation unit 720 and the cooling operation unit 750 andblock the cooling energy accumulated in the cooling accumulation unit720 from being emitted toward the cooling operation unit 750 or thesubstrate Sub. The cooling gate unit 730 may include a plurality ofthermoelectric elements and be radially disposed as shown in thedrawing. As another embodiment, the cooling gate unit 730 may includeone thermoelectric element and block or emit cooling energy between thecooling accumulation unit 720 and the cooling gate unit 730.

Meanwhile, although not shown in the drawing, in the cooling generator70-1 according to another embodiment, a temperature sensor (not shown)may be disposed in the cooling operation unit 750. In detail, thetemperature sensor may be disposed on an opening surface of the coolingoperation unit 750 and measure a temperature of a boundary gas(surrounding air) around the substrate Sub. The temperature sensor maybe a micro temperature sensor having a small thermal capacity.

The cooling generator 70-1 having the above structure mayinstantaneously and precisely cool the substrate Sub at the targetcooling temperature by performing the first cooling operation at thecooling accumulation unit 720 and the second cooling operation at thecooling gate unit 730. Since the cooling generator 70-1 caninstantaneously cool not only the substrate Sub but also a boundary gason the substrate Sub, the cooling generator 70-1 may perform a functionof an instantaneous boundary air cooler. For example, an air chambercapable of holding cooled air may be formed by forming the coolingoperation unit 750 on a surface of the substrate Sub in acircumferential direction. The instantaneous boundary air cooler mayminimize a heat loss caused by a convection current by cooling theboundary gas around the substrate Sub so as to maximize cooling of thesubstrate Sub.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating still another embodiment ofthe cooling generator of FIG. 1 , and FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional viewillustrating another embodiment of the cooling unit.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10 , a cooling generator 70-2 may include asubstrate Sub, a cooling unit 710-1, the cooling gate unit 730, thecontrol unit 740, and the cooling operation unit 750. The coolinggenerator 70-2 according to still another embodiment performs coolingaccording to a principle equal to those of the above-described coolinggenerators 70 and 70-1, and a repetitive description will be omitted forconvenience of description.

The cooling generator 70-2 according to still another embodiment mayinclude the cooling operation unit 750 surrounding the substrate Sub.Here, the cooling operation units 750 may be disposed on both sides withthe substrate Sub interposed therebetween. In detail, the coolingoperation units 750 may be provided as two cold plates disposed aboveand below the substrate Sub, and the two cold plates may each include acentral area 750A surrounding the substrate Sub and one or more armareas 750B extending from the central area to an outer part. The centralarea 750A may include an opening which exposes a part of the substrateSub outward as shown in the drawings. Meanwhile, as shown in thedrawings, the cooling operation unit 750 may include four arm areas 750Bextending in four directions.

The cooling gate unit 730 may be disposed in the arm area 750B of thecooling operation unit 750. Here, as shown in the drawings, the coolinggate unit 730 may be disposed on one surface of the arm area 750Bexposed outward. In the drawings, although it is shown that the coolinggate units 730 are disposed on a top surface and a bottom surface of thearm area 750B, the cooling gate unit 730 may be disposed on a sidesurface of the arm area 750B. The cooling gate unit 730 may be disposedbetween the cooling unit 710-1 and the cooling operation unit 750 andblock the cooling energy generated from the cooling unit 710-1 andaccumulated from being emitted toward the cooling operation unit 750 orthe substrate Sub. The cooling gate unit 730 may include athermoelectric element and be disposed in each of the arm areas 750B ofthe cooling operation unit 750.

Also, the cooling unit 710-1 according to another embodiment maygenerate and accumulate cooling energy at the same time. For example,the cooling unit 710-1 may be formed of a water block in which arefrigerant such as a coolant continuously flows through a flow path 715formed therein and generates cooling energy. Here, the water block mayperform a function of accumulating cooling energy, by itself, due to thecoolant which continuously flows.

The cooling units 710-1 may be disposed to be opposite to the coolingoperation unit 750, in detail, the arm area 750B of the coolingoperation unit 750 with the cooling gate unit 730 interposedtherebetween. Particularly, as shown in the drawings, the coolinggenerator 70-2 according to still another embodiment may structurallyinclude a sandwich structure in which the cooling unit 710-1, thecooling gate unit 730, the cooling operation unit 750, the substrateSub, the cooling operation unit 750, the cooling gate unit 730, and thecooling unit 710-1 are sequentially arranged, and the sandwich structuremay be coupled by coupling the cooling units 710-1 arranged outermost.As one embodiment, the cooling units 710-1 may be connected throughscrew coupling. Through this, cooling energy generated from the coolingunits 710-1 may not directly transferred to the substrate Sub or thecooling operation unit 750, and the cooling generator 70-2 may minimizea heat leakage.

As described above, in the cooling generator 70-2 according to stillanother embodiment, cooling efficiency may be maximized by arranging oneor more cooling gate units 730 on the cooling operation unit 750, andmore particularly, arranging one or more cooling gate units 730 oppositeto one arm area 750B.

Although embodiments have been described above with reference to thedrawings, these are merely examples and it should be understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art that a variety of modifications and changesmay be made. Accordingly, the technical scope of the present inventionshould be determined by the technical concept of the following claims.

According to embodiments of the present invention, there is provided acooling apparatus for medical or life science experiments. Also, thedisclosed embodiments are applicable to cooling apparatuses and the likewhich are used industrially.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for providing cooling energy to atarget comprising, a cooling accumulator configured to accumulatecooling energy; a cooler thermally connected to the cooling accumulatorand configured to cool the cooling accumulator; a cooling gateconfigured to selectively block or allow transmission of cooling energyaccumulated in the cooling accumulator to the target, the cooling gatecomprising a first plate and a second plate, the first plate beingarranged between the second plate and the cooling accumulator, and thesecond plate being arranged closer to the target than the first platewhen cooling energy is provided to the target; and a controllerconfigured to: perform an accumulating operation, wherein theaccumulating operation comprises controlling the cooler to generatecooling energy to cool the cooling accumulator and controlling thecooling gate to a first state such that cooling energy is maintained inthe cooling accumulator, wherein the first plate has a first surface andthe second plate has a second surface having a temperature higher thanthat of the first surface in the first state; and perform a coolingenergy transferring operation, wherein the cooling energy transferringoperation comprises controlling the cooling gate to a second state suchthat cooling energy accumulated in the cooling accumulator istransferred from the cooling accumulator to the target, wherein thesecond state is different from the first state.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the first surface of the first plate has a temperaturehigher than that of the second surface of the second plate in the secondstate.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in the accumulatingoperation, the cooling accumulator is configured to be cooled to atarget cooling temperature T_(target).
 4. The apparatus of claim 3,wherein, in the cooling energy transferring operation, the target isconfigured to be cooled to the target cooling temperature T_(target). 5.The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured tomaintain a temperature of the cooling accumulator at the target coolingtemperature T_(target) until the cooling energy transferring operationis performed.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first plate is indirect physical contact with the cooling accumulator and wherein thesecond plate is in direct physical contact with the target.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein, during the accumulating operation, thecontroller is configured to apply a first current flowing in a firstdirection to the cooling gate such that a temperature of the target isdifferent from a temperature of the cooling accumulator, wherein duringthe cooling energy transferring operation, the controller is configuredto apply a second current flowing in a second direction to the coolinggate, and wherein the second direction is opposite to the firstdirection.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cooler is configuredto work through at least one of a Peltier effect, a phase change effect,a Joule-Thomson effect, or a thermodynamic cycle.
 9. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the cooler has a cooling output greater than a coolingoutput of the cooling gate.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecooling accumulator is polyhedral, and wherein a plurality of surfacesof the cooling accumulator are configured to thermally connect to acooling element included in the cooler.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the cooling accumulator comprises a metal matrix comprising atleast one of gold, silver, copper, or aluminum.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the cooling accumulator comprises a top wall and aplurality of sidewalls extending from the top wall, wherein the coolinggate is attached to the top wall, and wherein the cooler comprises aplurality of cooler elements, each being attached to one of theplurality of sidewalls.
 13. A cooling method, comprising, providing acooling apparatus that comprises: a cooling accumulator configured toaccumulate cooling energy, a cooler thermally connected to the coolingaccumulator and configured to cool the cooling accumulator, a coolinggate configured to selectively block or allow transmission of coolingenergy accumulated in the cooling accumulator to a target, the coolinggate comprising a first plate and a second plate, wherein the firstplate is arranged between the second plate and the cooling accumulator,and wherein the second plate is closer to the target than the firstplate when cooling energy is provided to the target, and a controller;performing, by the controller, an accumulating operation, wherein theaccumulating operation comprises controlling the cooler to generatecooling energy to cool the cooling accumulator and controlling thecooling gate to a first state such that cooling energy is maintained inthe cooling accumulator, and wherein the first plate has a first surfaceand the second plate has a second surface having a temperature higherthan that of the first surface in the first state; and performing, bythe controller, a cooling energy transferring operation, wherein thecooling energy transferring operation comprises controlling the coolinggate to a second state such that cooling energy accumulated in thecooling accumulator is transferred from the cooling accumulator to thetarget, and wherein the second state is different from the first state.14. The cooling method of claim 13, wherein, during performing theaccumulating operation, applying, by the controller, a first currentflowing in a first direction to the cooling gate such that a temperatureof the target is different from a temperature of the coolingaccumulator, wherein, during performing the cooling energy transferringoperation, applying, by the controller, a second current flowing in asecond direction to the cooling gate, and wherein the second directionis opposite to the first direction.
 15. An apparatus for providingcooling energy comprising, a substrate on which cooling is configured tobe performed; a cooling accumulator configured to accumulate coolingenergy; a plurality of coolers thermally connected to the coolingaccumulator and configured to cool the cooling accumulator; a pluralityof cooling gates configured to selectively block or allow transmissionof cooling energy to the substrate, each of the plurality of coolinggates comprising a first plate and a second plate, the first plate beingarranged between the second plate and the cooling accumulator, and thesecond plate being arranged closer to the substrate than the first platewhen cooling energy is provided to the substrate; a cooling operatorincluding an opening which exposes a portion of the substrate, andconfigured to thermally transfer cooling energy transmitted through theplurality of cooling gates to the substrate; and a controller configuredto: perform an accumulating operation, wherein the accumulatingoperation comprises controlling the plurality of coolers to generatecooling energy to cool the cooling accumulator and controlling theplurality of cooling gates to a first state such that cooling energy ismaintained in the cooling accumulator, and wherein the first plate has afirst surface and the second plate has a second surface having atemperature higher than that of the first surface in the first state;and perform a cooling energy transferring operation, wherein the coolingenergy transferring operation comprises controlling the plurality ofcooling gates to a second state such that cooling energy accumulated inthe cooling accumulator is transferred from the cooling accumulator tothe substrate, and wherein the second state is different from the firststate.